Superboy's Requiem
by RobinKent
Summary: Superboy faces the end of all that he has loved and the loss of Robin


**4 September 2018**

 **Gotham**

Batman typed away at his notorious computer trying to determine Ra's al Ghul's pattern of deception and attack. But he had no success as he analyzed what information he had. His adopted son had gone out to fight his assassins several days ago, but he hadn't checked in and it was starting to worry him. From behind him softly strode the only man who could enter the Batcave uninvited… the only man that the Batman could call a friend, though they had sometimes been foes. The man's red cape hung low and unmoving as he made slow steps to the dark knight.

"Bruce…" Superman said haltingly. "Bruce!" he called a second time and Batman heard the voice of Superman crack for the first time he had known. There was pain in the voice and Batman turned about in his chair and saw the grieved and tear-streaked eyes and he jumped to his feet… and almost fell to his knees. Superman held an object in each hand and extended the right one and set Robin's staff in Batman's shaking hand. The vigilante looked down and took stock of the steel rod that had dealt justice to every foe it had met and who's wielder was without equal in its use. His breath caught in him for a moment, until it was released in a primal roar of rage and loss… and vengeance.

"Where was that son of yours? Why didn't he protect…" Batman savagely screamed out at Superman, until the last son of Krypton raised his left hand… holding the black and red t-shirt with Superboy's logo. Unchecked tears flowed past Batman's cowl as he looked into Superman's eyes and said:

"Clark…"

"Bruce…"

The cries of their shared loss echoed deeply upward impossibly through the bedrock and into Wayne Manor. There were few things that could bring Batman to such straights, Alfred knew, and the old gentleman set the tea kettle on the stove and went to the bar in the living room and poured himself a small glass and sat in remembrance of his young ward while he sipped the costly cognac. Far above him in the mansion another heard the same cries and he knew as well what they meant. The dark and grim lad threw himself onto his bed and expended all his emotional strength to not cry, then gave up, and proceeded to sob into his pillow… and vowed vengeance on his grandfather.

 **1 September 2018**

 **Smallville, Kansas**

The Kent farm burned… the barn, the house… even the fields of golden grain that was the pride of Jonathan Kent. Superboy credited it as the place where he learned what it meant to be human, and learned to love Robin for the first time in a small cave on the edge of their property. But now he looked on flaming ruins… ruins now as red as his enraged eyes. Robin's grip twisted tightly on the shaft of his steel staff… the one thing beside his mind that made him a hero.

"Tim… why? They were no part of this… WHY?" Superboy asks his boyfriend

"To anger us. To draw us out." Robin answered. "The shadows haven't worked for them. We've beaten them every time. This is just a mean final hate they can throw at us."

But Superboy's eyes shift spectrum and he begins to notice numerous assassins hiding in the unburnt sections of field.

"Sweetheart, I think they drew us here for an open fight."

"Good." Robin responded. "At least Ma and Pa weren't home and are safe."

"Wonder Woman took them to Central City with Flash. Between them they are as safe as can be."

"No Kon… if they were with our fathers I would be more satisfied."

"True Timmy, but they are safe and we aren't. There's another group on the far side past the barn."

But as Conner brings his attention to the barn, it explodes. The small Bat-flier that Robin had always kept hidden there had succumbed to the flames and blew the old wooden edifice apart. Superboy then saw the assassins move in under the cover of flame and heat.

"They're coming… openly even."

"I wish we had Garth waw with us to stop the flames." Robin answered seeing the old Kent home burn.

"Me too, but Kaldur needed him in Atlantis since the League of Assassins had learned how to infiltrate even there; and the rest of the Team is scattered at other cities helping them out."

"Don't remind me. It was my idea to send them out. I made a bad call"

"No…" Superboy tells Robin while still scanning the fields of the Kent farm. "It's just that no one could have expected the League to resort to open war. Shit… Robin… they're moving in, and they were hiding four deep, one right behind the other. They know my powers and sneaked around it."

"Crap. They just evened the odds." Robin answered feeling like this was more of a setup than it already appeared to be. "Can you draw them out? Make them fight in the open where we have the advantage?"

"Way ahead of you, pretty boy." Superboy called out as his eyes flared and he sadly started burning the remaining patches of wheat where their enemies hid; and though the situation was tragic, they looked on in laughter. They were young, strong, madly in love, and heroes. This was what they lived for and welcomed the challenge. They respected their enemy but didn't know to be afraid. Robin was the best staff fighter who had ever lived and the League of Assassins fought with hand to hand weapons, right to his advantage; and Superboy was… super. He was almost everything that Superman was, just younger, sexier, and madly in love with the guy he called his "little bird." But standing 5 foot 10 inches, he wasn't all that big himself, but he was strong… strong in his powers, strong in his love, and strong of heart. He knew his boyfriend had a dark side and learned to appreciate it, but he never realized that he was practically the ultimate Boy Scout.

As the assassins fled the fire into the open pasture, Robin winked at Superboy and ran right at him at full speed. He knew this tactic all too well. The little vigilante came off the ground in a flying kick, that the young Kryptonian clone caught with his hand and pushed back, launching Robin right into the middle of a group of the villains. The boy spun fluidly with his staff, leaving most of them unconscious and bleeding. One of them got a roundhouse kick in that he barely managed to dodge, but he lost control of his staff in the process. He didn't dare drop to the ground to retrieve his steel staff, but he did have time to pull out two birdarangs; and snapped them together and made himself a short sword, all the time never stopping from his spinning maneuver.

Superboy, meanwhile, dove in blasting the ground beneath another group, dropping them like a clumsy sack of potatoes. He knew how powerful he could really be and had, like Robin, chosen to never kill. But he was also amazingly agile, having learned Krav Maga from Canary. With his strength and speed, not much could withstand it. Within moments he had caught up to his bird and they stood side by side as they took on all enemies. Kon was able to retrieve Tim's staff and the smaller lad snapped his improvised sword apart and stowed the birdarangs, and took up his staff in a circular maneuver that swept away another four enemies. They were practically enjoying themselves, but it was starting to be too easy and a shadow of doubt entered Robin's mind.

Several hundred meters away, on the very hill that hid the entrance to Conner's little hideaway cave, Ra's al Ghul and his lieutenants directed the battle. The ancient schemer saw the pair of young heroes and gave strict instruction:

"They are not to be killed… understood?" The ancient and wise leader of the assassins commanded. "We want to win this battle, not lose it. Killing them will bring down the wrath of those we are not prepared for… and these two are worthy of keeping their lives."

"If you say so, my lord…" one very skilled but unreliable lieutenant answered with a bow in his hand.

Robin struck his staff to the ground and launched himself off it and planted his feet right into the chest of another near enemy when he felt a sudden and undeniable punch to the chest. It was so sudden that he didn't even feel the pain of it at first… but looked down and saw the black-fletched arrow in the middle of his chest. His strength left him and his staff once again hit the ground. Kon saw it all in seeming slow motion and what had been their vengeance of a pair of happy warriors now ended. His great speed brought him to Tim's side and he caught the boy before he fell to the ground.

Seeing the blue and red clad hero in a seeming weakened state a pair of the killers struck at Superboy with their swords as he gently lowered his boyfriend to the ground… the soft, fertile, and comforting soil of the Kent farm. Their blades shattered as he ignored the killers, but protected Tim with his body. Tim's bright blue eyes looked up at his lover and softly spoke. He only had strength enough to say one thing. He wanted to say he was sorry: sorry for failing, sorry for not being strong enough, sorry for leaving Kon, sorry for not saving the farm. But he chose to say the one thing that he hoped would say everything that needed to say.

"I love you Kon." He said softly with his last strength as he looked into the pained eyes of his boyfriend and the phrase ended in a cough of blood.

Ra's al Ghul saw the same scene and was shocked by it until he saw the bow in his henchman's hand.

"Damn you Wahid Khabith, I told you he was not to be killed." The villain said darkly; and before the man had a chance to speak his defense Ra's pulled his scimitar from its scabbard and drove it into the heart of his skilled but unreliable henchman, but it would have been no consolation to Conner.

He settled Tim onto the soft soil and gatheedr his cape over him like a blanket to keep him warm. He barely managed to keep his tears in check since he did not want Tim's last sight of him to be so grieved. He knew there was nothing that could be done as he looked deep into his body and saw the arrow had torn a deep gash into the left side of his heart. It was broken…

"I love you too, Timmy. I always have." Kon answered his partner and boyfriend. The only satisfaction was seeing Tim smile at the words before the light of life left his eyes. The happy playful warrior rose up with a tragic grief in his eyes and let his eyes speak for his heart. Tears burned away in a flash of plasma as he immolated those nearest to him and the body of Robin. He sobbed raging tears as he continued to burn when he saw the small group on the hillock over his cave… the very cave where he and Tim had become lovers. That had been sacred ground to both of them. It was holy. But standing above it was the same man who had led his Robin's killer. But fire purifies, and fire cleanses. The Kryptonian lad's vision was nothing that even Superman could equal at that moment. It was fueled by the rage, pain, and terrible hurt in his heart. One single loyal assassin had survived his rage and ran at him from the side and Kon struck out, heedless of his strength. What remained wasn't fit to be called a man any longer. He had avenged his boyfriend, but it did nothing to ease the loss.

As though it was on cue, rain began to fall, but the sky was bright, the rain having blown over from afar. The soft rain washed away the blood from Kon's hands… both the blood of his enemy and the blood of his love. He pulled Robin into his arms and rocked back and forth weeping in a keening wail… weeping for everything he had lost, for everything Tim was, and everything that they might have made of their lives. But there was no one to hear his grief and he did not know if he wanted the solitude of his pain or the company of others to soften the pain… But, no. This pain was his. It was almost a sweet terrible thing as he remembered every happy moment. It was as pure and holy as that small cave. It was as pure and holy as their love. He closed his eyes and wrapped his slender but strong fingers around the arrow jutting from the bird's chest. He looked away and pulled hard, barely managing to not throw up at hurting the body of Tim even a little more.

Once the fires had died down from the rain, he gingerly picked Robin up… feeling terribly odd, having never felt the weight of a corpse, but not yet accepting that his boyfriend was gone. He carried him into that cave and found it like he left it the year before. He laid Tim down on the cot that they had made their first love on. It had not been slept on since. They found their love, and now he left his love… when he left the small cave he blasted the entrance, sealing the place forever. It was blessed by love at the beginning and at the end.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

He could have flown all the way to his destination, but he walked the last leg of it… nonstop for two days. He needed time to think, but he couldn't think. He wanted to fight something, but he had already avenged Robin. He wanted to stop, but he had to be somewhere before he could stop. It was only two days, but he felt the loss and loneliness like an ancient burden. On the horizon he found his destination… a great crystalline structure that could ease the hurt.

He took a moment to pet Wolf, who whined inconsolably in knowledge, but fortunately his father was away. He would divert him from his final goal… his final peace. He went to the core of the Fortress of Solitude and found the ancient red crystal of his father's people and carried it to a small chamber. He composed a message for his father and took a steel cylinder from his belt and pressed a contact and Robin's staff opened to its full and deadly length. He laid it on the console and then pulled off his shirt, folded it, and laid it over the staff.

Having done that, he closed the small chamber door and held the red crystal in his hand for a moment while he contemplated his actions.

"FATHER!" He cried out his last, giving all his pain and grief in the word, but also asking for forgiveness and understanding. In the end, it sounded like a forlorn boy asking for "Daddy." He turned his thought away from grief to the happy moments he had shared with Tim, their playful times, their missions together, their friendship and love… and that first time when he felt that uniquely Kryptonian connection when you pair with the one you are meant to be with forever… the first time they made love in that little cave.

He held onto that moment… that feeling of the exploding supernova in his heart… and he shattered the red crystal in his hand, sealing himself in the eternal dream of their mutual love.


End file.
